SC decision leaves TN govt clueless

N Sathiya Moorthy in Madras

On any other day, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M
Karunanidhi would stay put in the Secretariat, the administrative headquarters of the state government, till
1.30 pm, or even later. On Tuesday, however, when the Supreme
Court's adjournment of the case relating to
Veerappan's associates became known, he left for home by
noon. And he had no comments to offer journalists.

Naturally so. The Tamil Nadu government is clueless
about proceeding further in the matter. Brigand
Veerappan and his Tamil militant associates are firm
on the release of their associates before freeing
kidnapped Kannada film icon Rajakumar. The Supreme
Court case has now come in the way, and it cannot move
either way, without knowing the final verdict.

For the present, the state government is in no mood
to risk police action. As sources point out, Veerappan
has thus far kept his word of not harming Rajakumar.
Journalist-emissary Nakkeeran Gopal has also returned
with the impression that Rajakumar is as comfortable
and confident as can be under the circumstances. The
governments, both in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, do not
want to provoke Veerappan, thus. Not certainly until
Rajakumar is freed.

However, significance is attached to a meeting
attended by senior Intelligence Bureau officials in
Madras on Monday. The Veerappan issue is believed to
have come up for mention, among other things. It was
believed to have been left at that, it is learnt. As
pointed out, intelligence agencies of the IB kind have
little to offer by way of inputs, or direct action.
It's outside the realm of their routine duties, unless
specifically asked to provide logistical intelligence
of the kind that may be required.

For all this, however, the Supreme Court direction was
not totally unexpected. Going by the routine nature of
court proceedings, the division bench hearing the case
was not expected to dispose of the case, either way,
after just one sitting, when only preliminaries would
have been covered -- if at all.

That much also became clear by Monday evening, when
Karunanidhi told newsmen that Gopal would go on a
fourth-leg mission later in the week, to brief
Veerappan on the court proceedings. The decision to
send Gopal again was taken at a meeting Karunanidhi
had with visiting Karnataka Home Minister
Mallikarjun Kharge, in Madras. Kharge is believed to
have briefed his chief minister, S M Krishna, before
the latter was scheduled to meet Union Home
Minister L K Advani in New Delhi, on Tuesday.

Indications are that Karunanidhi and Krishna may now
consider meeting Prime Minister A B Vajpayee and also
Advani, together or separately, to brief them on the
various steps taken by the two states, including their
approach to the pending court cases.
The two chief ministers had said as much, after
their meeting in Bangalore last fortnight.

With Vajpayee set to return after a successful US
visit later in the day, Krishna too is likely to seek
an appointment with the prime minister, during his
three-day stay in Delhi, to attend the Planning
Commission meeting, it is said. Any decision by
Karunanidhi to meet Vajpayee may follow Krishna's
Delhi visit, and their combined evaluation of the
Centre's reaction to their current predicament.

However, the Tamil Nadu government's concern for the
continued safety of Tamils in Karnataka has
heightened, with the delay in Rajakumar's release.
Karunanidhi is believed to have taken up the issue
with Kharge at the meeting. "I have asked Krishna to
ensure the safety of the Tamils, and he has promised
to do the needful," Karunanidhi said on Monday. To
that end, both state governments are keeping their
fingers crossed, what with peripheral pan-Tamil groups
in Tamil Nadu too, vowing retaliation if
the Tamils in Karnataka are hurt.